Download the constiutional convention

Chapter 9
The Constitution:
Towards a More
Perfect Union
But first finishing up
The
strengths
and
WEAKNESSES of
the Articles of
Confederation
(Causation) How did the concerns of the
Congress led towards the drafting of the
weak Articles of Confederation? What
events and situations motivated a desire for
a stronger central government in some
Americans?
* What is foreign policy?
* What is domestic policy?
Answer:
The Congress under the Articles could not
address three significant, interconnected
issues:
1. Securing and protection international trade
2. Internal squabbles between states over
commerce and trade
3. Intra state difficulties caused by economic
depression
Map 9-3 p167
Difficulties with Foreign Trade
• Strained foreign relations with Britain:
o Refuses to rescind the Navigation Laws
o Britain no longer offer protection to American
shipping from piracy. (Particularly Mediterranean Sea)
• Spain was openly hostile to the new Republic
o She controlled the all-important Mississippi River,
forcing the pioneers to float their produce
o In 1784 Spain closed the river to American commerce
threatening the West with strangulation
• France, America’s friend, cooled off now that
it had humbled Britain
This held contribute to economic
Problems at home
– Americans could now trade freely with foreign
nations but……
• War had spawned smuggling and pirating throughout
America
• This led to extravagance, speculation, and profiteering
• Because goods were difficult to acquire (limited
legitimate means or costly smuggled means) runaway
inflation occurred
• Many state began to produce paper money rather
than gold/silver currency
• This had ruinous economic effects on many citizens.
Economic Problems
leads to Political Crisis
• The average citizen was worse off financially
at the end of the shooting than at the start.
• The controversy leading to the Revolutionary War
had bred a keen distaste for taxes and encouraged
disrespect for the majesty of the law generally.
• State governments had borrowed more
during the war then they could ever hope to
repay
• The Federal Congress was powerless under
the Articles to collect funds or insure order
Economic Problems Threaten
the Stability of the Government
– Congress’s requisition of raising money from the
states broken down (no federal power to tax in
the Articles)
– States were deep in war debt themselves with
interest on the public debt was piling up
– Some states printing depreciated paper money.
– Some states were levying their own duties on
commerce from other states (no federal power
to regulate commerce in the Articles)
– Federal AND state governments struggled to
address the common person’s economic despair
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IX. The Horrid Specter of Anarchy
• Shays’ Rebellion in western Massachusetts:
• Improvised farmers were losing their farms through
mortgage foreclosures and tax delinquencies
• Led by Captain Daniel Shays, these desperate debtors
demanded:
– That the state issue paper money, lighten taxes, and
suspend property takeovers
• Hundreds of angry agitators attempted to enforce
these demands.
• Massachusetts authorities responded with drastic
action by raising a small army skirmishes occurred, 3
Shaysites were killed 1 wounded—the movement
collapsed.
IX. The Horrid Specter of Anarchy
(cont.)
• Shays’ followers were crushed, but the
nightmarish memory continued:
• The Massachusetts legislature passed debtor-relief
laws
• Shays’ outburst caused fear for the propertied class
• Civic virtue was no longer to rein in self-interest and
greed
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Constitutional Convention
• The Convention was called to deal with commerce
and to bolster the entire fabric of the Articles of
Confederation
– Congress called for a convention “for the sole and express
purpose of revising” the Articles.
• A quorum of 55 emissaries from 12 states convened
in Philadelphia on May 25, 1787
• 1st decision: Sessions were held in secrecy, with
armed sentinels posted at the doors.
• 2nd decision…. to completely scrap the old Articles of
Confederation
• They were determined to overthrow the existing
government by peaceful means
Key Leadership
• Most were lawyers experienced in drafting state
constitutions
• George Washington was elected chairman to add
credibility
• Benjamin Franklin added the urbanity of an elder
statesman.
• Alexander Hamilton was an advocate for superpowerful central government
• James Madison’s contributions were so notable he
was dubbed “the Father of the Constitution”
• Group would become known as the Federalists
Who was not there????
• Jefferson called the delegates to the convention —
“demigods,” The caliber of the participants was
extraordinarily high
• Most Revolutionary leaders of 1776 were absent
– Jefferson, J. Adams and Thomas Paine in Europe
– Samuel Adams, John Hancock were not elected
– Patrick Henry was elected from Virginia, but declined,
declaring he “smelled a rat.”
Goals for Constitutional Delegates
• Strongly desired a firm, dignified, and respected
government
• Believed in republicanism but sought to protect the
American experiment from weakness abroad and
excesses at home
• Wanted the central government to control tariffs in
order to secure commercial treaties from foreign
nations
• Were determined to preserve the union, forestall
anarchy, and ensure security of life and property
against dangerous uprisings by the “mobocracy.”
• (Contextualization) What are the
compromises the Constitutional Convention
needs to make to form a “more perfect
union” and how do these compromises
resolve the concerns of the delegates?
Hammering Out a Bundle of
Compromises
• Proposals:
• Virginia Plan—“the large-state plan”: representation
in both houses of a bicameral Congress should be
based on population—an arrangement that was to
the larger states’ advantage
• New Jersey Plan—“the small-state plan”: provided for
equal representation in a unicameral Congress,
regardless of size and population
– The weaker states feared that the Virginia
scheme would lord it over the rest.
XII. Hammering Out a Bundle of
Compromises
• The Great Compromise: (Connecticut Compromise)
• The larger states were conceded representation by
population in the House of Representatives (Art. I,
Sec. II, para. 3 see the Appendix)
• The smaller states wee appeased by equal
representation in the Senate (Art. I, Sec. III, para. 1)
• Agreed that all tax bills or revenue measures must
originate in the House, where population counted
more heavily (Art. I, Sec. VII, para. 1).
• The critical compromise broke the logjam.
XII. Hammering Out a Bundle of
Compromises
• The final Constitution was:
• Short because it grew out of Anglo-American
common law legal tradition which made it
unnecessary to be specific
• It mostly provided a flexible guide to broad rules of
procedures rather than detailed laws
• The original (unamended) Constitution contained just
7 articles and ran about 10 pages to print.
XII. Hammering Out a Bundle of
Compromises (cont.)
• The President:
• Was to have broad authority to make appointments
to domestic officers—including judgeships
• Was to have veto power of legislation
• Was not to have absolute power to wage war—
Congress retained the crucial right to declare war
• Which Enlightenment theory????
• Which Enlightenment thinker????
XII. Hammering Out a Bundle of
Compromises (cont.)
• Electoral College as a big state / small state
compromises
– Method of electing the president indirectly by
the Electoral College rather than direct means
• Large state get more say in popular vote
• Smaller states get a check on that say through the
electoral college
XII. Hammering Out a Bundle
Compromises (cont.)
– State’s share of electors was based on the total
of its senators and representatives in Congress
(see Art. II, Sec. I, para. 2)
– How should slaves be counted:
• The compromise was a slave might count as threefifths of a person—three-fifths compromise (see Art.
I, Sec. II, para. 3):
• Slave trade might continue until the end of 1807 (see
Art. I, Sec. IX, para 1).
Other Balances
• The federal judges were to be appointed for life
• The senators were to be chosen indirectly by state
legislatures (see Art. I, Sec. III, para. 1)
• The House of Representatives—were qualified
(propertied) citizens permitted to choose their
officials by direct vote (see Art. 1, Sec. II, para. 1).
Enlightenment Roots
• Democratic elements in the new charter:
– Stood on two great principles of republicanism
• That the only legitimate government was one based
on the consent of the governed
• That the powers of government should be limited—in
this case to a written constitution
• The virtue of the people, not the authority of the
state, was to be the ultimate guarantor of liberty,
justice, and order.
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XIV. The Clash of Federalists and
Antifederalists
• The Framing Fathers early foresaw that
nationwide acceptance of the Constitution
would not be easy to obtain:
• Unanimous ratification by all 13 states according to
the still-standing Articles of Confederation
• Since Rhode Island was certain to veto, the delegates
stipulated when 9 states had approved through
specifically elected conventions, the Constitution
would be the supreme law of the land in those states
ratifying (see Art. VII).
XIV. The Clash of Federalists and
Antifederalists (cont.)
• The American people were now handed a
new document (see Table 9.2):
– The antifederalists—those who opposed the
stronger federal government
– The federalists—those supported a strong
federal government.
• Antifederalists—Samuel Adams, Patrick Henry,
Richard Henry Lee were states’ rights devotees (see
Map 9.4), also backcountry dwellers, one-horse
farmers, paper-moneyites and debtors.
(Contextualization) What were the antifederalists concerns about the new
Constitution and how did the federalists
address them to insure ratification of the
new constitution?
XIV. The Clash of Federalists and
Antifederalists (cont.)
– Federalists were George Washington, Benjamin
Franklin, those who lived on the seaboard,
wealthy, educated, better organized.
– The antifederalists voiced vehement objections
to the “gilded trap” known as the Constitution.
Map 9-4 p174
XV. The Great Debate in the States
• Special elections were held for members of
the ratifying conventions (see Table 9.3)
– The candidates—federalist or antifederalist—
were elected based on whether they were for or
against the Constitution
• Four small states quickly accepted the Constitution
• Pennsylvania was number two to ratify
• Massachusetts prevented challenges, one of many
was the demand for a bill of rights.
XV. The Great Debate in the States
(cont.)
– Massachusetts ratified by a margin of 187 to 168
– Three more states signed
– New Hampshire was the last.
– All, but Virginia, New York, North Carolina, and
Rhode Island had taken shelter under the “new
federal roof”
– The document was officially signed on June 21,
1788.
Table 9-3 p175
XVI. The Four Laggard States
• Virginia:
• Provided fierce antifederalist opposition
• They saw in the fearsome document the death
warrant of liberty
• G. Washington, J. Madison, and John Marshall,
federalists lent influential support
• New Hampshire:
• After exciting debate in the state convention, ratified
it 89 to 79.
XVI. The Four Laggard States
(cont.)
• New York:
• Alexander Hamilton finally supported the federalism
as framed
• He joined John Jay and James Madison in a series of
articles for the New York newspapers
• Called The Federalist Papers, were the most
penetrating commentary ever written on the
Constitution.
• The most famous one is Madison’s Federalist No. 10.
• It brilliantly refuted that it was impossible to extend a
republican form of government over a large territory.
XVI. The Four Laggard States
(cont.)
– New York finally yielded, ratifying by the close
count of 30 to 27
– North Carolina, after a hostile convention,
adjourned without taking a vote
– Rhode Island didn’t summon a ratifying
convention, rejected the Constitution by popular
referendum
– The two most ruggedly individualist centers
remained true to form.
XVI. The Four Laggard States
(cont.)
• No lives were lost, but riotous disturbances
broke out in New York and Pennsylvania.
• There was much behind-the-scenes pressure
on delegates who had promised their
constituents to vote against the Constitution.
• The last four states ratified, not because they
wanted to but because they had to
• They could not safely exist outside the fold.
p176
XVII. A Conservative Triumph
• The minority had triumphed—twice:
– A militant radical minority engineered the
military Revolution that cast off the British
constitution
– A militant minority of conservatives had
engineered the peaceful revolution that
overthrew the inadequate Articles of
Confederation.
– A majority had not spoken.
XVII. A Conservative Triumph
(cont.)
• Only ¼ adult white males had voted for delegates to
the ratifying conventions
• Conservatism was victorious
• The principles of republican government were
conserved through a redefinition of popular
sovereignty
• There was a self-limiting system of checks and
balances among the branches and the Constitution
reconciled the conflicting principles of liberty and
order.
• A marvelous achievement.
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